Cracker Barrel Q4 Revenue Falls 2.2%

By Tamara Parker • Wednesday, September 23 11:58 • Permanent Link

Cracker Barrel reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $849.3 million, down 2.2% from $868.0 million a year earlier, as comparable store restaurant sales fell 2.1% and comparable store retail sales rose 0.7%.

Net income for the quarter increased to $12.2 million from $6.8 million in the prior-year period. Diluted earnings per share rose to $0.54 from $0.30. Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.99, up from $0.74. Adjusted EBITDA climbed to $62.1 million from $55.7 million, aided by about $9.1 million of tariff refunds net of investments.

For the full fiscal year, revenue declined to $3.319 billion from $3.484 billion. GAAP net income fell to $31.7 million from $46.4 million, while diluted EPS dropped to $1.40 from $2.06. Adjusted diluted EPS decreased to $0.80 from $3.16. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $147.7 million from $224.3 million.

On the balance sheet, total debt ended fiscal 2026 at $337.2 million, down from $484.6 million at the end of fiscal 2025. The company said it had no outstanding borrowings on its credit facility, ended the quarter with a consolidated total leverage ratio of 1.7x and a consolidated senior leverage ratio of 0.0x, and had about $541.3 million of available capacity under its credit facility.

During the quarter, Cracker Barrel repaid $150 million of short-term debt tied to its 0.625% convertible senior notes at maturity in June 2026. It also completed a sale-leaseback transaction involving 26 company-owned stores, generating about $77 million in net proceeds that were used to reduce debt.

The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, payable Nov. 12, 2026 to shareholders of record Oct. 16, 2026.

For fiscal 2027, Cracker Barrel projected revenue of $3.325 billion to $3.4 billion, compared with fiscal 2026 revenue of $3.319 billion, and comparable store restaurant sales growth of 3% to 5%. It forecast adjusted EBITDA of $180 million to $200 million, up from $147.7 million in fiscal 2026, capital expenditures of $110 million to $125 million, commodity inflation of about 3.0%, and hourly wage inflation of 2.5% to 3.0%. Following these announcements, the company's shares moved 2.86%, and are now trading at a price of $46.78. Check out the company's full 8-K submission here.

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